Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)

“…of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most…human.”

What more needs to be said of the late great Leonard Nimoy who sadly passed away today at the age of 83. He will forever be associated with the noble and stoic Mr. Spock from Star Trek. He made the role iconically his own, so much so that even when Spock was re-casted in the J.J. Abrams reboot in 2009 Nimoy was still in the film as the elder Spock (and then again in the sequel). He even wrote two autobiographies titled: I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock. So even he had somewhat conflicted feelings about how much he is associated with the famous role.

But because of that role he was always seen, to me anyway, as a high-class intellectual, a scientist and a gentleman. The perfect foil to the cocky and emotional Captain Kirk. Practically a pacifist and always cool-headed in the face of a crisis he never put his emotions ahead of his logic and reason. Whenever I think of scientists and scholars Nimoy is somehow always thought of. I must’ve thought when I was younger that he was cast as Spock simply because he was a real genius and scientist—that’s how great he fit that role in the Trek Universe. He even had a science-fiction based TV show after Star Trek called “In Search of…”

But he was also a writer and director and not just for Star Trek. He wrote the screenplays for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country as well as directed Star Trek III: The Search For Spock and Star Trek IV but he directed Three Men and a Baby as well. Which, again as a kid, I found strange because why is he directing silly comedies with Steve Guttenberg when he was Spock and will always BE SPOCK! Which isn’t a bad thing to be constantly associated with. I wouldn’t say it defined him—well maybe a tad—but it is a great role. And I don’t care if he was a half-human, half-Vulcan with pointy ears and a bad haircut he is still one of the most human characters that we all should strive to be.

Just as they say “Long Live the King/Queen” after the death of a royal figure, it’s no different to say “Live Long and Prosper” to the honorable and inimitable Mr. Nimoy. He is now beamed up to the great Enterprise of the sky with shipmates DeForest Kelley and James Doohan.